Daniel 2:10 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Daniel 2:10

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So Nebuchadnezzar is very cynical about his astrologers, his wise men. They find it difficult to believe that the king is asking such a thing of them. It seems unfair to them that he should ask this, and contrary to the unwritten rules of the game they are playing, that you have to maintain the illusion that they have real occult knowledge. This religion of Babylon must continue to be believed by the people for the sake of unity. They point out that no king has ever made such a request of his wise men before. It is really intriguing to see the way they do it. What they want to say is, ‘You are being most unreasonable’, but you can't say that to a tyrant, and so the way they put it is to say, ‘There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.’ It is really a master class is using words to appease a ruthless king. They don't accuse the king directly. They say, ‘Nobody's ever asked this before, and it is a rare thing’ – when what they really mean is that it has never happened before. ‘There is none other that can show it before the king except the gods’, who don't live here. They admit they have no contact with these gods they claim to be so close to. They have made their living based on this false claim. So they put it as delicately as they can, that the king is being unreasonable. Being phonies such phonies, they assume that all others are equally phony. They do not believe in their own powers either, though they will never admit that.

Application

Anglicans interviewed John Wimber (author of ‘Power Evangelism: Signs and Wonders Today’) in Australia. He had laid hands on two hundred Down’s Syndrome children. What happened? One of the children had attained the lowest possible level of progress. Wimber backed off in the interview about the nature of the miracles he claims to do. He said that he no longer believed his healings are same as Christ and the apostles’, but more like those in 1 Corinthians 12-14. He said that he was assisting the churches. He was asked, ‘So you don’t believe in your books such as ‘Power Evangelism’? He replied that he never wrote them – they were pruned from his speeches. So he wouldn’t be teaching this material in his Sydney mission? They did not an answer, but he did teach all of them.

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Daniel 2:10 Commentary and Bible Study